The Bandit and The Queen
by allonsysilvertongue
Summary: Based on a prompt - what went through Regina's mind when she saw the lion tattoo.


**Requested by stylisonfire: Outlaw Queen, when Regina sees the tattoo, but can you do it where it's from Robin's POV then Regina's?!**

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**Bold and Audacious**

The heavy unsettling feeling she had since the moment their paths crossed was making her restless. Perhaps it was the arrow he had shot at her, she told herself, but even she knew that that was not it. There was something else, something that was inherently him that was making her edgy. Regina couldn't shake the feeling that he was familiar to her, as if she had met him before, perhaps had even known him but as she followed him in their search for clues in that farmhouse, she came up with nothing, and it was not because her memories were unreliable. Her memories were sharp which led her to the only logical conclusion there was – she had never met this thief before.

Of course, a queen had no business dealing with a thief but she hadn't always been a queen, and even then, she couldn't remember ever crossing paths with him. She glanced in his direction. She really should not be in the company of a man who only moments ago had tried to kill her. What a terrible idea.

_But I have magic. What does a thief have?_

"Seen anything?"

Her eyes snapped up at the sound of his voice. He was circling the lounge, peering into nooks and crannies, looking for anything that could help them.

"No," she answered, shaking her head at him. Regina shifted her attention to the cabinet behind where Robin was standing. There were rows upon rows of vials and bottles displayed neatly on it, nothing particularly interesting since they all appeared to be regular type of vials to her but it wouldn't hurt to check.

Regina traced her finger over the edge of a shelf, scanning the contents of the bottles as Robin spoke to her. He seemed to have stopped his search and was more concern with engaging her in a conversation although it was starting to sound more and more like he was flirting with her. His words washed over her, wrapping itself around her like smooth velvet.

_Better watch out for this one_, she told herself quietly. _Bold and audacious?_

Regina smirked. Well, he certainly was bold for speaking to her in that manner, gallant yet brash. She turned around slowly and regarded him carefully with mild interest. Robin was different that most people. He knew who she was and yet he stood before her, unflinching and speaking words no one would have dared utter in her presence.

_Fear,_ she mused quietly. She had used fear like a tool but he was fearless and Regina had to admit, he had caught her off guard, not that she didn't enjoy this challenge, of course.

She leaned against the cabinet which she soon came to realise was a mistake. Robin closed the gap between them, standing far too close than propriety allowed. Her breath hitched as she swallowed the lump in her throat. Her eyes searched his face, wondering and pondering to herself as to what he would do next, and when he leaned closer, she gripped the edge of the wooden cabinet tighter.

Regina blinked and the moment was gone as Robin stretched past her, extracting a bottle from a shelf behind her. She exhaled slowly, her heart beating slightly too fast still. She wasn't quite sure if that was disappointment that she felt but she didn't want to dwell on it for too long.

It was mostly a means to distract herself that Regina decided to humour him – something she would not have done with anyone else - when he drew her attention to the decanter of whiskey clutched in his hand.

"It is a liquid that could conjure courage, give strength or even act as a love potion of sorts," she told him.

_Am I flirting with him?_

Robin looked amused which caused Regina to chuckle, the tension diffusing slightly between the pair. She should have said something to stop him when she saw him starting to pour them both a drink because they have a job to do. Instead, she held her tongue. She could enjoy this small moment with this stranger, surely?

Robin turned around just then, holding out the glass in his hand towards her. Something caught her eye and when her gaze fell on the lion tattoo on his arms, the smile faded from face. Regina stared at it, remembering a day of what felt like a life time ago when she had laid eyes on the very same tattoo and ran because she had been too afraid.

Her breath left her and the crushing feeling in her chest was slowly making it more difficult to draw breath. Regina lifted her head up to see his warm eyes boring down on hers curiously. Robin nudged the drink into her hand, urging her to take the glass from him.

But she couldn't move. Regina stood rooted to the spot. She was staring at her supposed true love except he had always known her as the Evil Queen. He had heard rumours and talks of what she was capable of. But even if he had not let that stand in his way and had treated her just as Regina, surely all those stories he had heard about her would have sent him running off in the other direction if he were to find out that they were _soul mates._ He wouldn't want to be with her.

_Who said I wanted to be him?_, she scowled.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

It became too much for her. The word 'soul mate' echoed in her mind and she could feel herself slowly beginning to unravel. That word seemed to have struck fear in her the way nothing else could.

This was that man whom she was supposed to be happy with. This thief was a part of her and he was supposed to make her feel complete and whole.

Robin.

Not Daniel whom she had loved and lost. Not Graham whom she had used.

It was Robin, this outlaw.

Was it the work of magic that led them to this moment or was it fate that finally made her face the life she could have and abandoned? She didn't know. All she knew was that she was back to that moment – him with a drink in his hand and the lion tattoo on his arm still as dark and as striking as she remembered it to be – and she was about to take the same way out.

Regina fled, leaving him gaping behind her, wondering what had just happened as he called her name repeatedly.

_Wanted to continue to the bit where she went back to see Robin & Roland but i thought this ending suits better. Sorry, no Robin's POV. _


End file.
